Outdoor meetups tailored to women aren’t exactly new.
But there certainly has been a resurgence in the past five or so years, witnessed through a sweep of local ladies creating space for intentional, adventurous experiences.
Today, there are more options than ever for females to gather and play outside on pavement, snow and dirt. Whether you’re looking for camaraderie, coaching, friendly encouragement or group reflection, you’re bound to find these qualities and more among three local organizations.
A riff on a country club vibe, The Rose Club is much the opposite. The casual drop-in, all-levels-welcome gatherings are intended for skateboarders and snowboarders with a focus on females, but anyone is invited. The aim? To create a place where skaters and riders are comfortable to push themselves beyond their comfort zones while being in a supportive, encouraging and inviting space.
Skater Michelle Gum launched the group in July 2020, when she was hanging out at the Crossroads Skateboard & Snowboard Shop in Ogden, where her husband Austin Gum is the manager. One day, a 17-year-old girl came in to buy her first-ever complete skate setup and said she didn’t have many friends at school and needed an outlet. An hour later, another girl the exact same age came in to buy a setup, saying the same thing.
Gum could relate to finding where she fit in. She’d grown up in the golf world, becoming a collegiate athlete in the sport. Her husband introduced Gum to skateboarding, and she quickly fell in love with the people, culture and their passion for board sports. Yet, there wasn’t an organized group in the area, especially for women, so Gum decided to start one.
“I love skating with the dudes, but I was ready to skate with people that scream when you land something and hoot and holler when you do anything, and with dudes you miss that. They’re all skating at a really high level, which can be intimidating, and if you don’t see someone like yourself doing it, it doesn’t seem achievable,” says Gum.
She started an Instagram page for the group, and all the local skateboarders blasted about it on their social media. She was so excited to see the community support, especially with male allies supporting the cause. The group launched with Saturday meetups at a local skate park in Ogden, where folks could connect to share tips and tricks.
These days, The Rose Club typically meets at a skate park every other Saturday from May through September. They bounce around locations from Park City Skatepark to Fairmont Park Skatepark in Salt Lake City and West Valley City Skatepark, venturing as far north as Logan. On average, 20 skaters show up. While Gum mostly runs the show, she notes that “younger girls are wanting to be involved more, and I’m sharing more responsibilities with them.”
In the winter, the group meets every other Wednesday at the indoor skate park at Crossroads Skateboard & Snowboard Shop from December through April.
Another huge part of The Rose Club is the snowboard leg. The group hosts a monthly meetup to ride at a ski resort in the area. It’s no surprise to see between 25 and 30 riders come out of the woodwork for the gatherings. They also organize backyard jams that are progressive focused. “We do not host a competition, because we realized no one cares to compete — we all just want to have fun. People are hitting rails for the first time ever and doing new tricks. We took the rails from the skate park and set them up in the snow, it was great,” enthuses Gum.
All the gatherings are posted on Instagram, and anyone is welcome to join sans signups, dues or requirements.
One of Gum’s fondest memories from The Rose Club is the annual Montana skate trip in September to visit Evergreen Skateparks and camp. “All of us are super different. The only thing that unites us is skateboarding, and to have that one tie from all walks of life on a weekend camping trip where it doesn’t matter is so special. It doesn’t matter who you are, only that you skateboard and you’re a good person,” says Gum.
If Nordic skiing has piqued your interest but remains annoyingly complicated, joining a group of motivated gals on cross-country trails might be the key. Twelve years ago, cofounder Inge Travis did just that, launching Park City Nordic Betties with her close friend, Annie Morgan, because the duo was receiving a lot of inquiries from other women wanting to learn how to Nordic ski. Travis remembers how hard it was when she first was introduced to a sport she now loves.
“Initially, my husband got me into Nordic skiing. I didn’t grow up with a ski background, and I didn’t like it the first 10 years because I didn’t understand the sport,” says Travis, who wanted to help others jumpstart Nordic skiing expertise at a smoother clip than what she had experienced.
She especially enjoys demystifying the gear — the differences between classic and skate gear can be confusing, for instance — and helping women understand ski designs and sizing. She also likes how rewarding the sport is in a group setting. “I think it’s super fun to learn something with other women outside, while you’re moving and getting exercise; plus, it’s social and you’re meeting people,” says Travis.
During Nordic Betties’ inaugural year, close to 50 skiers signed up for workshops. Today, that number reaches close to 300 women per season, though each meetup varies drastically from a couple of skiers to 10. Ski sessions are led by professional coaches — there are 20 on staff, six of which are lifelong racers or have been on the U.S. Ski Team — and are held five days weekly during the winter.
“We’re incredibly fortunate with our coaches, and we still have our core coaches from 12 years ago,” Travis shares. Participants can register for weekly skate or classic skiing meetups that last six, eight or nine weeks. All experience levels are welcome from newbies to advanced.
“We’re all learning on the fly together, laughing; group learning is great because you learn from others’ questions you never would have thought of,” says Travis, who assumed leadership of the organization in 2020, when Morgan stepped back to focus on her family.
One of Travis’ favorite parts of Nordic Betties is how the group helps to introduce Nordic skiers to nearly a dozen trail systems throughout the area, which continue to grow in and around Park City. Whether skiers are meeting up at the White Pine Touring Nordic Center or Round Valley Open Space, they’re bound to have a great experience and see the potential for lasting friendships that span seasons.
Travis adds, “It’s felt so good to run into and see these people around town — at local lunch spots sitting at a table or out hiking, biking and Nordic skiing together — because they had made connections through Nordic Betties.”
Walking on trails together often leads to deep conversation as the miles tick by, but some women-focused outdoor organizations weave mindfulness and vulnerability into the group’s purpose. The concept for Wild Women Tribe came to founder Renée Huang in fall 2017, and she launched the organization by winter 2018.
“I was going through personal hardship and felt like I wanted to explore relationships of more depth with women and to do it outdoors. Nature provides groundedness and has always been a part of ourselves — to be cyclical and of the earth,” Huang says. “It makes sense for us to find comfort through reconnecting to our roots and to find empowerment through bouldering or skiing a hard line or doing something you’ve never done before.”
Participants enthusiastically embraced the idea and have consistently joined the group ever since. Today, Wild Women Tribe offers full-day workshops every weekend that are dubbed Wander excursions. The events combine outdoor activities like hiking, snowshoeing or camping with a mindfulness exercise — anything from forest meditation to sound bathing, a cacao ceremony, Wim Hof breathing and cold plunge therapy. One recent Wander theme was joyful play, featuring a winter hike led by an outdoor fitness instructor through beautiful aspen groves, ascending 1,000 feet before sledding down.
For lengthier immersions, Wild Women Tribe offers retreats with yoga instructors that last two to five nights and are held in a range of destinations from Mexico to Greece. “Our retreats are all focused on transformation and having women safely step into their own vulnerability and rekindle their passion and purpose. We get lost in serving other people — we are all moms, wives, sisters, friends and career women. We put ourselves last, so these retreats and workshop spaces are for women to serve themselves, to get quiet and to look inward,” says Huang.
Every age is welcome, and the span of ladies from their 20s to their 60s makes the groups special. “Those are the most dynamic, fun, imaginative groups because we have all these women of different decades together, holding space together and being friendly and compassionate. No one needs to worry about their fitness, ability or what they’re wearing,” she emphasizes.
Ultimately, Huang hopes that participants can find or rediscover their self-alignment and learn how to source their own inspiration, which then allows women to engage and be impactful in their own circles. For Huang, the best moments are “when I see other women find themselves again. You see it in their eyes and the way they hold themselves … when they step into their light,” she says. It manifests as new excitement and energy.
